Photo: S.Baldauf/SB-Medien
It's not everyday that a pre-production prototype breaks down for one reason or another on the side of the road. Most of the time when it happens, our spy photographers are close by, ready to make the best of the situation.
This time it was a 2018 Mercedes-AMG S63 prototype, whose battery problems forced its test driver to pull over, thus giving us a better view of the facelift model's interior.
As you can probably see for yourself if you look closely, there are two somewhat unusual details inside this particular model. First of all, it looks like Mercedes-Benz will replace the current touchpad controller. The new version occupies a little more real estate on the center console, which is a good thing if you have bigger fingers.
Second of all, and a lot more strange is that a Maybach emblem is clearly embossed in the leather engulfed armrest. Why is this strange, you ask? Well, so far, the recently unveiled S650 Cabriolet was the only model to have AMG and Maybach bits in the same vehicle, despite the Mercedes-AMG lettering not being visible anywhere on the car.
At first, this made us think that this is not actually an S63 but a not-yet-announced Mercedes-Maybach S650 sedan. A closer look at the engine cover made us reconsider that thought, though, because there are enough details visible to compare it with the 2017 Mercedes-AMG E63 engine cover, which is almost identical.
That said, we have a mystery on our hands, because this is clearly a 2018 Mercedes-AMG S63, fitted with the “hot-vee” mill from the E63 in “S” specification, but with a double-M emblem embossed on the arm rest.
Until we figure it out, you should be reminded that the refreshed S63 is expected to come with 612 hp and at least 850 Nm (627 lb-ft) of torque from the twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter V8 that also powers the E63 S. A tad higher torque might be involved, though.
The old 7G-Tronic will be replaced by a multi-clutch version of the 9 G-Tronic, massaged by AMG to provide faster gearshifts. Just like the current S63, RHD versions will be strictly rear-wheel-drive, while the rest of the world will get a beefed up variant of the new 4Matic+, which can offer a “drift mode.”
As you can probably see for yourself if you look closely, there are two somewhat unusual details inside this particular model. First of all, it looks like Mercedes-Benz will replace the current touchpad controller. The new version occupies a little more real estate on the center console, which is a good thing if you have bigger fingers.
Second of all, and a lot more strange is that a Maybach emblem is clearly embossed in the leather engulfed armrest. Why is this strange, you ask? Well, so far, the recently unveiled S650 Cabriolet was the only model to have AMG and Maybach bits in the same vehicle, despite the Mercedes-AMG lettering not being visible anywhere on the car.
At first, this made us think that this is not actually an S63 but a not-yet-announced Mercedes-Maybach S650 sedan. A closer look at the engine cover made us reconsider that thought, though, because there are enough details visible to compare it with the 2017 Mercedes-AMG E63 engine cover, which is almost identical.
That said, we have a mystery on our hands, because this is clearly a 2018 Mercedes-AMG S63, fitted with the “hot-vee” mill from the E63 in “S” specification, but with a double-M emblem embossed on the arm rest.
Until we figure it out, you should be reminded that the refreshed S63 is expected to come with 612 hp and at least 850 Nm (627 lb-ft) of torque from the twin-turbocharged, 4.0-liter V8 that also powers the E63 S. A tad higher torque might be involved, though.
The old 7G-Tronic will be replaced by a multi-clutch version of the 9 G-Tronic, massaged by AMG to provide faster gearshifts. Just like the current S63, RHD versions will be strictly rear-wheel-drive, while the rest of the world will get a beefed up variant of the new 4Matic+, which can offer a “drift mode.”
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